Paul Finebaum explains why he is 'squeamish' on Oklahoma in 2025

Oklahoma finished towards the back of the conference last year during their debut in the SEC. Now, one thing is holding Paul Finebaum back when it comes to if the Sooners could be better in their second season in the conference.

While on ‘McElroy & Cubelic in the Morning’ at SEC Media Days in Atlanta on Monday, Cole Cubelic asked Finebaum which projected middle-tier team in the league this season could end up in the upper tier by the end of the fall. His first answer was Oklahoma but noted that their schedule is making him question that.

“I really like Oklahoma, until I look at the schedule and that’s when I get a little bit squeamish,” said Finebaum.

“With (John) Mateer and all the things that they have added, they have a chance to, if we’re sitting there at the end of November, a little bit like Texas A&M was last year, (have) a legitimate road to the playoff. I think they’re one.”

OU has obviously put a lot into this pivotal season in what’s year four for Brent Venables in Norman. That’s with the Sooners pairing among the most returning production with 21 transfers, most notably QB John Mateer (Washington State) and RB Jaydn Ott (California) leading six additions in the Top-150 of On3’s 2025 Top Transfer Portal Players. The same applies off of the field with the hire of OC Ben Arbuckle (Wazzu), Venables taking over defensive play-calling, and bringing in GM Jim Nagy.

However, Oklahoma will play one of the more difficult schedules, both in the conference and nationally, this season. That’s with hosting a non-conference game against Michigan before flipping their league slate, which they went 2-6 against the same opponents in 2024, with home games against Auburn, Ole Miss, Missouri, and LSU, road games at South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama, and their rivalry matchup against Texas with Red River in Dallas in 2025. That means that the Sooners will have to earn it if they not only have a winning record but have themselves in contention for either the SEC Championship or the College Football Playoff.

Oklahoma could very well be much improved as a team this season. However, with that schedule, their record may or may not be that much better with who all they’ll have to play to finish better than .500.

Finebaum previews SEC Media Days, predicts biggest storylines from Atlanta

SEC Media Days began today from Centennial Park down in Atlanta, Georgia. With the four-day event starting this morning, what is Paul Finebaum most interested in?

Finebaum shared his top stories going into SEC Media Days last week while on ‘McElroy & Cubelic In The Morning’. He thinks it started from the very opening of the week when LSU’s Brian Kelly took the podium. He then continued with Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer and the hot seat felt under Oklahoma’s Brent Venables, with both set to be on stage on Wednesday, as well as Auburn’s Hugh Freeze, who’s set to be up first on Tuesday.

“Well, I think Brian Kelly is going to certainly be center stage,” said Finebaum. “He’s certainly one of the best known SEC coaches. He may be the best known in many ways. And, what he does, other than Kirby Smart? What he does, how he handles the podium next week. I think he’ll handle it very well because he’s a smart coach. But the questions are going to be, once you get over there, is it CFP or bust?

“The same questions, you know, you hear on the ESPN shows, about DeBoer. I think Brent Venables needs a good week because he is definitely in harms way.”

“And, by the way, I think Hugh Freeze would have been a secondary story until all this. Now I think he’s a primary story.”